BIRODI: Lack of Forensically Usable Election Data One of the Problems in the Electoral Process

In Serbia, the integrity of the electoral process remains a subject of critical scrutiny, with organizations like the Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI) consistently highlighting systemic weaknesses. BIRODI's latest assessment points to a significant deficit: the lack of forensically usable election data, which hinders genuine independent verification of results.

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Electoral transparency in Serbia continues to rely more on formal visibility than on the actual possibility of independent verification of election results.

The bureau argues that Serbia's electoral transparency is largely superficial, prioritizing formal visibility over the actual possibility of independent checks. Unlike nations such as Croatia, Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico, which offer machine-readable data (CSV/XLSX/XML) from polling stations, often in real-time, Serbia lags behind. This disparity means that timely, independent forensic analysis of election results is severely hampered, especially given the tight legal deadlines for lodging complaints.

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While countries like Croatia, Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico publish machine-readable data (CSV/XLSX/XML) from polling stations, often in real-time, Serbia still lacks a system that allows for quick and independent forensic analysis before the legal deadlines for complaints.

BIRODI is advocating for a higher standard of electoral transparency in Serbia. Their recommendations include legally mandating the Republic Electoral Commission to publish results from each polling station in a machine-readable format, ensuring data availability before complaint deadlines, and establishing a permanent open data portal with audit logs and timestamps. These measures are deemed essential for substantive democratic control and for implementing recommendations from bodies like the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

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A higher, not lower, degree of electoral transparency is necessary in Serbia. Therefore, it is necessary to legally oblige the Republic Electoral Commission to publish results from each polling station in a machine-readable format (CSV/XLSX/API), provide public data before the deadlines for complaints, and introduce a permanent portal of open election data with revision logs, timestamps, and metadata.